Historical Background Portus (Fiumicino) was the maritime port of ancient Rome and, together with the neighbouring river port at Ostia, was the focus of a network of ports serving Imperial Rome between the mid-1st century AD and the 6th century AD. It was critically important for supplying the city of Imperial Rome with foodstuffs and materials from across the Mediterranean from the 1st century AD onwards. Continue reading →

This chapter, and the chapter on geophysical survey, present a summary of prospecting methods used on archaeological sites to survey visible archaeological and topographic features, and the extent and nature of sub-surface archaeological structures, remains and features. All of these techniques have been used to a greater or lesser degree to survey the site of Portus or the hinterland of the port between 1998 and 2012. Continue reading →

Portus is blessed by the surviving remains of many standing buildings. These remains exist up to fragments of the second floor which gives huge potential for the reconstruction of what they looked like. The standing buildings need to be treated as any other artefact and recorded on site. Terminology Floors Different countries have different names for the floors of a building. Continue reading →

During the 2015 field season you will be given training in the following core field skills, and we hope also given the opportunity to try a number of the advanced skills. Over the coming weeks we will provide pointers to learning more about each of these. The links allow you to search this website for related content (including the expertise of your colleagues on the Portus Field School) and to find posts with relevant tags. Continue reading →